File folders of lateral suspension file systems



y 1966 A. cs. E. LUNDGREN 3,251,363

FILE FOLDERS OF LATERAL SUSPENSION FILE SYSTEMS Filed Aug. 51, 1964 FIG] FIG.2

United States Patent The present invention relates to suspension file folders or the like, below called folders, of lateral suspension file systems, which folders at their tops have a horizontal supporting edge provided with one or more edge-open recesses, both in the front cover and in the back cover,

for their suspension on fixed horizontal and possibly parallel supporting rods.

Hitherto, the front cover and the back cover of such a folder have had recesses which were of the same shape and dimension. By reason of this identity, in manufacturing such a folder both covers, after having been inserted intoa punch head, were punched in one step. This fact, however, had as a consequence the disadvantage that it was difficult to retain the folders on the supporting rods when somewhat carelessly handled.

The invention relates to an arrangement in a suspension file folder or similar storage means for a lateral suspension file system having one or more horizontally arranged, mutually parallel supporting rods for suspension of the folders, which latter for their suspension are provided with edge-open recesses, arranged at a supporting edge, whereby the folder includes a front cover and a back cover as well as a bottom part mutually connecting said covers and adapted to support the folder contents. The characteristic features of the invention are that an opening in a vertical edge of the front cover, adapted for the insertion of the supporting rod into the recesses, is located at a higher level, as counted from the bottom of the folder, than the opening of the back cover or vice versa, in order to bring about two relative positions between the opening of the front cover and that of the back cover, in one of which positions the openings of the recesses register to make the insertion of the supporting rod possible, and in the other of which positions a nose projecting into the opening of the front cover or back cover, respectively, is arranged to block the opening to retain the folder on the supporting rod.

The invention will be described herein with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a suspension folder having an edge-open recess in the horizontal supporting edge and being suspended on a horizontal supporting rod.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a suspension folder having an edge-open recess in the vertical lateral supporting edge.

FIG. 3 is a view of a recess according to FIG. 2 in a back cover. 1

FIG. 4 is a view of a recess according to FIG. 2 in a front cover.

FIG. 5 is a view of a recess according to. FIG. 2 with the front cover and back cover having such a relative position that the insertion of the supporting rod is made possible.

FIG. 6 is a section on the line VIVI in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a view of a recess according to FIG. 2 with the front cover and back cover having such a relative position that the inserted supporting rod is locked within the respective recess.

FIG. 8 is a section on the line VII IVIII in FIG. 7.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 there is illustrated a folder 1 with a front cover 2 and a back cover 3 as well as a bottom part 4. The supporting edge of each cover is represented by the: upper free horizontal edge 5 and the region immediately below this edge. When the folder 1 is suspended and positioned within the system it has backwardly facing vertical edges 6 and forwardly facing vertical edges 7, 'which latter constitute the handling side of the system. The suspension of the folder is made possible by the fact that the folder is provided with edge-open recesses 8, 8 opening into the horizontal edge 5 and/or edge-open recesses 9, 9' opening into the vertical edge 6.

The recess 9' of the folder back cover 3 is shown in FIG. 3, whereas the corresponding recess 9 in the folder front cover is shown in FIG. 4. Each recess is provided with an entrance opening 12, 12 being parallel to the horizontal folder edge 5 and directed inwardly of the folder and being shaped as a groove the width of which is somewhat greater than the thickness of the supporting rod 10 and which is limited by an upper edge 13, 13', Le, the nose edge, and a lower edge 14, 14'. The entrance opening 12, 12' is enlarged, at a place located inwardly from the folder edge, towards the horizontal edge 5 of the folder to form a horizontal cover-supporting edge '15, 15' which, when the folder is suspended, rests upon the supporting rod 10 and is parallel to the upper edge 13, 13 of the entrance opening and, moreover, is

' situated at a higher level than last mentioned edge. The

edge 15 is located at the same distance from the folder edge 5 on the front cover 2 as is the corresponding edge 15' on the back cover 3, whereas the lower edge 14 of the entrance opening 12 on the front cover 2 is situated at a shorter distance from the folder edge 5 than the corresponding edge 14' on the back cover 3, which means that the nose 16 is somewhat longer on the back cover 3 than is the nose 16 on the front cover 2. As measured from the folder bottom part the entrance opening 12 is thus situated at a higher level on the front cover 2 than is the corresponding entrance opening 12' on the backby the supporting rod 10 in such a manner that they coincide, whereby they register at one and the same level in order to return to their respective initial levels, as soon as the supporting rod 10 has passed over the noses 16, 16'.

The object of the invention is thus to bring about two different relative positions between the entrance openings, namely, l) a normal relative position, as shown in FIG. 7, wherein supporting edges 15 and 15' of the front and back covers are in alignment and, wherein the supporting rod 10 is blocked by the nose 16' of the back cover 3, owing to the fact that the effective entrance opening 12 is reduced to a width being smaller than the diameter of the supporting rod 10, a (2) transitory position according to FIG. 5, wherein cover 3 is lifted above cover 2 to an extent such that the nose edges 13, 13 of noses 16, 16' are in alignment and entrance opening 12' coincides with entrance opening 12, in such manner that the supporting rod 10 may be inserted into recesses 9, 9'. The passage of the supporting rod is in the first mentioned case made impossible, without manual help such as when loosening the folder, and the folder cannot thus in this case release itself from the supporting rod.

The above described embodiment may be modified without any departure from the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

A suspension-type file folder storage means for a lateral suspension file system including a filing cabinet, at least one file folder including a front cover, a back cover and a bottom part which mutually connects said covers and constitutes asupport for folder contents, and at least a pair of horizontally arranged, mutually parallel supa porting rods in said cabinet for suspension thereon of a file folder, said file folder for its suspension having edgeopen recesses, arranged at vertical supporting edges of the front and back covers of the file folder, each said edge-open recess being constituted by an entrance opening extending laterally inward from said edge and having a vertically upward extension whereby to develop a recess defined in part by a downwardly extending nose portion of said cover, between said vertical edge and said extension, and in part by a horizontal cover-supporting edge at the top of said extension, the nose portion of one cover extending downwardly beneath said cover-supporting edge a greater distance than does the nose portion of the other cover, that portion of said entrance opening beneath said nose portion of the front and back covers having a width providing a sliding fit for passage of one of said supporting rods into said recess, the entrance opening of the recess in one of the two covers being at a higher level, as measured from the top of the folder, than the corresponding recess in the other of the two covers whereby to provide for two relative positions between the entrance openings in said front and back covers, namely an abnormal relative position and a normal relative position, in which abnormal position said cover-supporting edges are offset from each other in the vertical direction whilst the entrance Openings of the recesses in the front and back covers register to permit the insertion of a supporting rod into said recesses and in said normal position said cover-supporting edges are in register with respect to each other whilst the longer of said depending nose portions projects into the entrance opening of the other cover to restrict the effective width of said opening to a dimension less than the diameter of said supporting rod thereby blocking said opening against inadvertent release of the folder from the'supporting rod.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner. 

